Stream Ecology

Introduction:

Leaf degradation contributes to both energy flow and nutrient cycling in stream ecology.

Leaf degradation occurs in three phases: leaching, microbial colonization, and biological

fragmentation. During the first phase the leaf is not a beneficial food source because it does not

have a high amount of nitrogen and phosphorus. In the microbial colonization phase bacteria

and fungi penetrate the leaves and colonize them, making the leaves a better source of nutrients

for consumers, called shredders. In the biological fragmentation phase, amphipods consume the

leaves and produce a new form of organic matter that will be used as a nutrient source

downstream. These steps of leaf degradation display the benefits to a stream’s ecology.

Our class decided to explore the effect of microbial colonization on consumption. Daniel

Nelson stated in “Gammarus-Microbial Interactions: A Review”, that a type of shredder

“Gammarus spp. show increased survival and growth rates when fed conditioned leaves

compared to non-conditioned leaves” (Nelson, 2011). Non-conditioned leaves in the lab were

the leaves soaked in distilled water and the conditioned leaves were those soaked in water from

the Chicago River. It was assumed greater microbial colonization occurred in leaves soaked in

the river water. The biological hypothesis decided upon by the class was that microbial

colonization influences leaf consumption. The null of the experiment was that condition has no

significant effect on leaf consumption. The alternative hypothesis was that there was a statistical

difference between the condition and amount of leaf consumption. (Martineau et al. 2017).

Methods:

Week one, the class divided into 5 groups to start the experiment. Each group obtained

one Norway maple leaf soaked in Chicago River water and one leaf soaked in distilled water. On
a cutting board, the leaves were cut into 1.5 cm2 squares using a blade and 1.5x1.5 mesh square

for measuring. Each leaf was placed into their own cup along with 50 mL of stream water and 3

amphipods. Cups were labeled with the type of water the leaf was soaked in and left to be

consumed by the amphipods. There were 10 cups in total, 5 with a distilled water leaf and 5 with

a Chicago River water leaf.

Week 2, the amount of leaf consumption was measured by sketching the leaf squares in

1.5 by 1.5 centimeter boxes and scaling them up to 9x9 centimeter squares. The class divided

into groups and each measured one leaf. The amount of leaf consumed was quantified by shading

in the squares that still contained leaf material. The percent consumed value was found by

counting the number of unshaded squares dividing by the total number of squares (8100) and

multiplying by 100.

Results:

An example sketch for calculating the percent consumed for one of the Norway Chicago

River leaf samples is shown in Figure 1. The unshaded squares represent consumed leaf

material. Since the leaf was mostly intact the percent consumed was found by dividing the

unshaded squares (consumed leaf material) by the total number of squares and multiplying by

100%. In Figure 1 the number of unshaded squares was counted as 293. The percent of

consumption was then found to be 3.61%. The average percent of consumption for each

treatment group was found through the class measurements, (Table 1).

Table 1: Class Data and Statistical Analysis of Percent Consumption

Treatment Groups
Chicago River Water Distilled Water
Trial 1 3.58 % 24.3%
Trial 2 0% 0.27%
Trial 3 27 % 3.7%
 Trial 4 3.3 % 3.7%
Trial 5 3.61% 14.5%
Average 7.498% 9.294%
SD 11.01% 9.95%
SE 4.92% 4.45%
Table 1 demonstrates the percent of consumption for each trial, average percent consumption for
each treatment group, standard deviation, and standard error from the class measurements for
Norway Maple leaves in treatment groups of Chicago River and Distilled water.

Figure 2: Average Leaf Consumption for Types of Water

16
14
12
% Consumed

10
8
6
4
2
0
Chicago River Distilled
Treatment Group

Figure 2 shows the class average consumption for Norway maple leaves soaked in
Chicago River water and distilled water. The standard error for Chicago River water was
4.92% and distilled water had a standard error of 4.45%.

The average consumption for the Chicago River water leaves was 7.498% while the

distilled water leaves had an average consumption of 9.294%. The Chicago River treatment

group had a standard deviation of 11.01% and a standard error of 4.92%. The distilled water

treatment group had a standard deviation of 9.95% and a standard error of 4.45%. A paired t-test

was utilized. The t-statistic was found to be 0.2706 through the standard deviation and number of

trials. The t-critical was found to be 2.306 for a=0.05 with 8 degrees of freedom. The

probability range for the t-statistic of 0.2706 was greater than 0.5.

Discussion:
 The null hypothesis of the experiment was failed to be rejected. The consumption of

Norway maple leaves in distilled water was found to have a higher average than the leaves

soaked in Chicago River water. The average percent of consumption was 9.294% for distilled

water compared to 7.498% for Chicago River water. These averages were not expected. The

standard deviations of 11.01 for the river water and 9.95 for the distilled water were large

deviations. The p value was found to be greater than 0.5, since the p value was not less than 0.05

the null cannot be rejected.

The experimental data did not support the current understanding of nutrient cycling in

stream ecology because the conditioned leaf would be assumed to have a greater amount of